5151 Hi! I am a queer grad student who just moved to , . Sharing

Document It Yourself is about my quest to find archives of local This zine is free and cannot be sold or used for commercial queer narratives, with the goal of making them more interactive and purposes, but you can make as many copies as you want, accessible to the public. This zine explores different archives and share it, or give it away! queer initiatives in town, gives you a few tips if you are new to archival research or just curious about it, shows you samples of documents I found and illustrated, and helps you retrace them if you Go to documentityourselfzine.wordpress.com to find: want to learn more.

• a PDF formatted for reading online/downloading The physical sites I visited are located in Glasgow (and one in Edinburgh), but you don’t have to live here in order to enjoy reading • a PDF formatted for printing this zine. • printing and binding instructions • an audiozine with the same content

Contact

🙈 Names have been redacted out of personal documents to Send questions/comments at [email protected] protect people’s privacy.

👀 For the purpose of a simple layout, I only put reference numbers Thanks for reading! and authors’ names on each page. All the complete sources are at the end of this zine. Lots of people have given me permission to reproduce their archival documents, so please do have a look at the 🤗✨🐙⚡🔮💖 reference list on p.4. 🤓 2 5151 Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………..4

Mitchell Library – Glasgow Life Archive…………5 More, more, more Queering language……………….5

Links Glasgow Women’s Library – Zine, LGBTQ and Lesbian Archive……………………………8 Care, part 1…………………………………………………..….8 www.lgbtarchive.uk Queering sources……………………………………………10 National Library of Scotland – www.queerarchivesinstitute.org …………….17 Care, part 2……………………………..17 www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net Bildwechsel Glasgow………………………19 Queering access……………………………19 www.thewhoresofyore.com OurStory Scotland…………………….22 www.qzap.org/ Do it yourself………………………………22 Queering methods………………………….23 Life episodes, illustrated………………….…23 www.autostraddle.com/50-zines-by-queer-people- of-color-184692/ Now what?...... 39 Archive visit checklist……………..39 Document it yourself……………42 🦄 References……….45 Sources……………..45 Addresses……………48

More, more, more………………...... 50 Links…………………………………………..50 Sharing……………………………………...51 Contact……………………………………51 3 500

bildwechsel Glasgow Introduction As of 2017, bildwechsel Glasgow doesn’t have a fixed address. Write them to ask your questions. Email: [email protected] If you are an artist or a student, a historian or simply interested in queer history, you will soon notice that finding a variety of queer archival bildwechsel’s main address is at:

documents isn’t always easy. I started researching queer archives in bildwechsel Glasgow for my course and art practice. However, I ended up turning the Kirchenallee 25 focus of my project onto archival methodology and politics instead. There 20099 Hamburg Germany was just so much to be said about the radical acts of reclaiming queer

histories and the methods used to document them. Telephone: +49 (0)40 246384 Email: [email protected] http://www.bildwechsel.org/info/en/ Being able to tell a story, and having the language to talk about yourself, http://durbahn.net/videoschloss/index.html can give you confidence and a strong sense of identity. Where you lack the words and the confidence to tell your story, you can feel as if you have National Museums Scotland - OurStory Scotland Archive wheelchair accessible lost your self. Telling your story may even be a matter of life and death. If

you cannot name and narrate your identity, you may lose a sense of who Research Library, level 3 you are, what you are doing and why it is worth continuing. (…) Chambers Street Edinburgh, EH1 1JF

Where voices are unheard, hidden or suppressed, the images and Tel: 0131 247 4137 representations of a community may be stereotyped and discriminatory, Email: [email protected] https://www.nms.ac.uk/ constructed about the community by those on the outside. LGBT (lesbian,

gay, bisexual and transgender) people have experienced social exclusion Dorothy Kidd, Senior Curator and marginalisation, and their stories have been neglected or distorted. Tel: 0131 247 4076 Email: [email protected] Their lives and loves have been characterised as wrong: mistaken in medical or moral terms. Their choice has been to understand themselves, OurStory Scotland if at all, in alien terms (Valentine, 2008, p.2). Email: [email protected] https://www.ourstoryscotland.org.uk 4 4949 Addresses

Mitchell Library - Glasgow Life Archive All the archival documents in this zine can be found at the Queering language following institutions:

Mitchell Library - Glasgow Life Archive Queer archives are scarce in general. When you find documents, wheelchair accessible the way they are catalogued does not always represent the whole spectrum of terms queer people use to describe themselves. Level 5, The Mitchell Library North Street, While there is a diverse terminology for sexual identity, the [US] Glasgow G3 7DN Library of Congress distills it into variations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and homosexual. Meanwhile, we are queers and queens, and Telephone: 0141 287 2910 transgender, and dykes, and bull daggers, and butches, and lipstick Email: [email protected] lesbians. (…) ‘‘Queer’’ represents a wide range of sexual identities http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/ and expressions. It was a term of the working class and used by people of color from early on in the gay liberation movement (de la Glasgow Women’s Library – Zine, LGBTQ and Lesbian Archive tierra, 2008, p.98). wheelchair accessible

Dated terms like ‘sodomy’ (see next page) are to be expected in Glasgow Women’s Library 23 Landressy Street historical documents, but updating the index would help making Glasgow, G40 1BP archives more welcoming to people researching the history of their own community. Telephone: 0141 550 2267 Email: [email protected] ‘Queer’ is an important word, because it is a slur reclaimed by its https://womenslibrary.org.uk/ targeted group. Institutions have the resources to adapt their language so that it reflects the way people name themselves. Not National Library of Scotland - Moving Image Archive doing so further alienates communities and reinforces systemic wheelchair accessible oppression. Institutions should support, uplift and amplify marginalised voices, especially those of queer, trans or non-binary Kelvin Hall people who also happen to be people of colour, sex workers, 1445 Argyle Street working class or unemployed, people with disabilities or mental Glasgow, G3 8AW illness, etc.

Telephone: 0845 366 4600 ‘‘The language and discourse of liberation and transformation Email: [email protected] recognizes and honors the right of all people to name themselves.’’ https://www.nls.uk/collections/moving-image-archive/ (Abalos (1999) cited in de la tierra (2008, p. 97.) 4848 5 Page 22 Valentine, J. (2012). Turning Out to Make History: OurStory Scotland. History Scotland. [Online]. January/February 2012, p.30. [5 Dec. 2017]. Available from: https://www.ourstoryscotland.org.uk/research/pres/Turni ngOutToMakeHistory1.pdf Page 23 Valentine, J. (2012). Turning Out to Make History: OurStory Scotland. History Scotland. [Online]. January/February 2012, pp.30-31. [5 Dec. 2017]. Available from: https://www.ourstoryscotland.org.uk/research/pres/Turni ngOutToMakeHistory1.pdf

OurStory Scotland. 2017. OurStory Scotland. [Online]. [5 Dec. 2017]. Available from: Having more index cards with more varied and accurate terms referring to https://www.ourstoryscotland.org.uk the same files could be a first step in the right direction, but it’s not an Page 24 From OurStory Scotland Archive at National Museums easy one. Scotland [21 Nov. 2017]:

W.MS.2007.563.1 [They] may be terms that ‘‘represent shifting and overlapping sexual and Page 25 W.MS.2007.481.1 gender identities,’’ but in the library ‘‘books about these identities will be assigned static subject headings that collate sometimes widely divergent Page 26 W.MS.2007.493.1 representations of gendered selves.’’ (Drabinski, cited in Eichhorn, 2014, Page 27 W.MS.2007.452.1 p.141) Titanic. 1997. [Film]. James Cameron. dir. United States: Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Lightstorm Entertainment. Page 28 W.MS.2007.443.1 Page 29 W.MS.2007.542.1 Page 30 W.MS.2007.562.1 Page 31 W.MS.2007.570.1 Page 32 W.MS.2007.435.3 Page 33 W.MS.2007.494.2 Page 34 W.MS.2007.439.1 Page 35 W.MS.2007.419.2 Page 36 W.MS.2007.509.1 Page 37 W.MS.2007.412.1 Page 38 W.MS.2007.497.2 6 4747 Another step that institutions can take to support marginalised voices is to Page 9 From the Glasgow Women’s Library Archive [20 offer archival space to groups that work on documenting their own narratives. This is what the Mitchell Library has done by allowing OurStory Nov. 2017]: Scotland to store their organisational records in their Glasgow Life ‘Archival Handling’ sheet collection. In the files (ref.TD1904), you can see the steps taken by OurStory Page 10 From the Zine Archive at Glasgow Women’s Library Scotland in order to create local queer archives. (more at p.22) [20 Nov. 2017]: Cunt & Paste, ref. GB 1534 ZN/C/13 Page 11 A Handy Guide to Asexuality, ref. GB 1534 ZN/A/14

Page 12 Dyke Dreams, ref. GB 1534 ZN/D/5/1 Page 13 Hens Tae Watch Oot Fur, ref. GB 1534 ZN/H/03/zines/H/3 Page 14 Bombshell, ref. GB 1534 ZN/B/06/zines/B/6/1

The Animals and the Ark and the Rainbow, ref. GB

1534 ZN/A/10/01 Page 15 Fabulous Babes, ref. GB 1534 ZN/F/01/zines/F/1/1 Page 16 From the Lesbian Archive at Glasgow Women’s Library [20 Nov. 2017]: Postcard and montage poster, ref. Sappho 2/3

Page 17 From the Moving Image Archive, National Library of Scotland [22 Nov. 2017]: Vinegar Syndrome, photo by me Page 18 Dirty Film Vault, photo by me

Coming Out. 1983. [Original: 16mm]. Scotland:

Scottish Television. Ref. T2326 Page 19 Family name, INITIAL(S) (or company name). Year. Title. [Online]. [Date accessed]. Available from: URL bildwechsel. 2015. bildwechsel. [Online]. [5 Dec. 2017]. Available from:

http://www.bildwechsel.org/info/en/index.html Page 20 bildwechsel. 2017. videocastle. [Online]. [5 Dec. 2017]. Available from: http://durbahn.net/videoschloss/index.html In the files (ref.TD1904), you will also find, amongst other things: Page 21 From bildwechsel Glasgow [27 Nov. 2017]: • Issues of Pulse magazine (from 1992), Scotsgay magazine (until 2003) Jesses Maria. 1993. [DVD]. Lily Besilly and Stefanie and Gay Scotland (until 2003) • Historical flyers for queer events like Glasgay Jordan. dir. Germany: self-produced. ref. bw967 • A shiny binder full of music sheets and clippings from Glasgow’s Gayy Men Choir (1998) 46 7

References Sources

Page 4 Valentine, J. 2008. Narrative Acts: Telling Tales of Life and Love with the Wrong Gender. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research. 9 (2), 34 pages. [5 Dec. 2017]. Available from: http://www.qualitative- research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/412/896 Page 5 de la tierra, t. 2008. Latina Lesbian Subject Headings: The Power of Naming. In: Roberto, K.R. ed. Radical cataloging: essays at the front. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland, 94-102. Glasgow Women’s Library – Zine, LGBTQ and Lesbian Archive Care, part 1 Abalos, D. (1999). Perspective: choosing between the languages of oppression and liberation. The Hispanic At the Glasgow Women’s Library, like at most archives, the documents Outlook in Higher Education. 9 (17): p.18. Cited in de la are stored in acid-free paper files, which are marked with a reference tierra, t. 2008. Latina Lesbian Subject Headings: The number. The files sometimes come with a list of documents, so you can Power of Naming. In: Roberto, K.R. ed. Radical cataloging: see in a quick glance what each one contains. essays at the front. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland, p.97. Page 6 Eichhorn, K. 2014. The Archival Turn in Feminism: Outrage The files are then grouped together thematically and stored in acid free in Order. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 123-153. cardboard boxes. Paper that contains acid turns yellow with time and deteriorates quicker. It’s important that the temperature in the facilities From the Glasgow Life Archive at Mitchell Library [18 Oct. remains stable, cool, and dry. 2017]: ‘LGBTQI’ index card Case of Female Sodomy in Glasgow Presbytery Minutes, 1625, ref. CH2/171/36 Page 7 From the Glasgow Life Archive at Mitchell Library [18 Oct. 2017]: ‘Archiving Meeting 13 August 2002’ in OurStory Scotland Organisational Records, ref. TD1904 Page 8 From the Glasgow Women’s Library [20 Nov. 2017]: Archival file and box, photos by me

4545 8

By yourself

• Learn how to digitise paper documents and videos • Organise your old photos, artworks and letters • Get together with other queer people and record oral histories • Interview queer friends or family members who were alive before the internet • Help them sort their stuff and old pictures • Keep a diary, a blog, or a social media account

• Approach existing queer archives (physical or documents, you archival with work When it’s important to make sure you handle them with care, sothat they remain in more years. for many condition good common contains GWL from the list This documents. archival for handling advice online) to see if your documents might interest them! • Make zines. 👽 • Ask activist groups or community projects if they need help or money to keep their own archive running • When possible, use acid-free paper and cardboard to store your items

4444 9 In your group

• Research how other groups started their archiving process and/or contact them for tips • Record or write down what happens in your meetings • Screenshot your social media posts (especially when your posts have been wrongly flagged or removed in the past) • Discuss the ethics of what you document, especially when you deal with sensitive subjects or personal information • Keep a shared hard drive or free online storage

Zine collections, like the one like collections, at the Zine account • Whenever possible, keep your physical documents in

Glasgow Women’sLibrary, preservethese artefacts that were and are still important to communities. queer a dark, cool and dry space • When possible, use acid-free paper and cardboard to store your items • Organise your archives as soon as you create them – it’s easier to sort a few documents in different files on the day of than thousands of documents 3 years later • Take turns and ask for support • If you choose to make your archives public, you can keep a blog or a website, have exhibitions or viewing parties, etc. • Approach existing queer archives (physical or online) to see if your documents might interest them! • Make zines. 🤖

Queering sourcesQueering amplify to medium great a them made long has zines of nature low-budget DIY, The that wouldn’t make and messages it into political voices marginalised mainstream media. theyWhile are still being made in 2017 (case in point – you readingare one), many people now use blogs or social media to the same effect.

6 10 GB 1534 ZN/C/13 43

Document It Yourself

When you are part of a community of activists, advocates or artists, the task of archiving your histories and projects is often not a priority. People work very hard towards their goals, which range from radical societal change to simply supporting each other and trying to survive together within oppressive systems. Archiving these narratives from first-person points of view is very important, but not easy.

If you have the energy, time and resources to document what your group is doing and going through, here are a few things you can do:

11 42 GB 1534 ZN/A/14 During your visit: o Ask for help if the index system is confusing (it can be!) o Follow the handling instructions carefully o Write the reference numbers of every copied document on the copyright form o When you’re done with it, make a copy of that filled out form for you to keep – it’ll make referencing easier later on o If you don’t have much time, take many pictures for later o Use the index sheets to skim through files and save time

o Have fun! 👽

After your visit: o Follow up with the archivist/curator o Get written permission to use images in your projects o Reference the documents properly o Inform yourself about the ethics of using archival documents – for example, are there other people’s identifying personal details on your copies? How do you plan on using them or discarding them when you are done? When in doubt, check in with the archivist.

12 GB 1534 ZN/D/5/1 4141 In advance: o Look if the archive of your choice as an online catalogue o In which case, note the reference number of precise documents you would like to see o Find out about eventual copyright policies o Contact the archivist/curator for questions and to make an appointment if applicable o Some archives are only open to researchers or students, so ask about those policies too

Right before your visit: o Plan some time, so you are not in a hurry o Eat well – you can’t bring snacks with you o Bring a bottle of water to keep in your bag – you can’t bring coffee either! o Bring sharpened 2B pencils and an eraser o Bring a camera/phone and charger o Otherwise, bring a folder for your photocopies o Turn off the flash o Avoid hand lotion

o Wash and dry your hands 🙃

GB 1534 ZN/H/03/zines/H/3 1313 400

Now what? Archive visit checklist

Are you planning to research archival documents for the first time? The first visit at an archive can be a little bit intimidating. Here are a few things to think about before you start.

GB 1534 ZN/A/10/01 GB 1534 ZN/B/06/zines/B/6/1

Remember to plan early – these steps can take several weeks!

14 3939

38 GB 1534 ZN/F/01/zines/F/1/1 1515 W.MS.2007.497.2

The archives at the Glasgow Women’s Library also insight give into personal queer stories.

1616 For example, in the records about the one of magazine, can Sappho creation postcards old photos, letters.find and Sappho 2/3 W.MS.2007.412.1 37 National Library of Scotland - Moving Image Archive Care, part 2

If paper documents and other artefacts are fragile and should be handled with care, the same goes for old films. At the Moving Image Archive, I learned that some films have particular problems when they are first collected. Acetate film, for example, can with time shrink or become brittle. When it happens, the film starts smelling like vinegar (acetic acid). The stinky rolls of film are kept together in a vault until they can be restored and hopefully digitised.

36 1717 W.MS.2007.509.1 Another example: nitrate film is extremely flammable and can sometimes even spontaneously combust. It is very important to store it safely and away from the rest of the collection.

Old video documents will rarely arrive at the archive in pristine condition. Rolls of film can be dirty, scratched, mouldy, discoloured or show shaky images. Films waiting for a makeover are stored according to their issues. The restoration team uses chemical processes to save as much as they can. When films are digitised, they go trough a big machine with a digital camera that photographs every frame. The team then uses a software to correct colours and image stability.

As a visitor, you can have access to films like Coming Out, a 1983 ‘‘television documentary about Scottish society’s attitudes towards homosexuality.’’ (ref.T2326)

35 18 W.MS.2007.419.2 bildwechsel Glasgow Queering access

Still in the context of my course, I got the opportunity to meet someone from the Glasgow branch of bildwechsel. According to their website:

bildwechsel is an umbrella organisation for women, and their communities, who are involved in media, culture and art.

recognising and celebrating the diverse and changing communities we live and work within we use the term woman+ – to reflect our inclusiveness to those that support us and work alongside us. with its main base in hamburg, bildwechsel acts as a platform and as an infrastructure to:

• to support and develop their own work, projects, ideas,

• to find out about the work of others,

• make connections,

• develop new initiatives and

• build up archival collections that represent their work. (bildwechsel, 2015)

They have growing collections of art zines, artworks, art films, video postcards and diaries, TV magazines, historical footage of events and political movements, and much more. A significant part of their collections is from or related to queer artists.

34 1919 W.MS.2007.439.1 ere visitors can explore rooms and find samples from the video collections. collections. video the from samples archives more accessible in various ways. of their One project, the videocastle, As an organisation and community initiative, bildwechsel also works on making works on making also bildwechsel initiative, community and organisation As an consists of a digital interactive space, wh

202 3333 W.MS.2007.494.2 Here is a sample film from the art video collection at bildwechsel Glasgow. Glasgow. bildwechsel at collection video art from the film a sample Here is 21 32 W.MS.2007.435.3 bw967

2222

OurStory Scotland Do it yourself At the Library,Mitchell I started looking into OurStory Scotland’s organisational records (ref.TD1904) found in the In the read theseone files, Life Archive. can Glasgow about and discussions the of meetings early accounts foundinglocal a archive. One can alsolearn aboutthe to related this likechallenges project, funding, space, administration, and volunteer work. It’s possible to track their evolution and activities on severalspanning throughyears flyers, photos, emails, and sheets, feedback published articles. insight offers all This intothe processof getting a grouptogether and conceiving an archive,when the currentcontext ofqueer archivesis one of ‘‘national absence, community interest and personal frustration.’’ 2012)(J. Valentine, These records could prove useful for other groups who would like to initiate a similar project elsewhere and need to know moreabout administrative steps,important contacts, potentialpartner institutions sponsors,and funding tips, etc. W.MS.2007.570.1 31

(Valentine, 2012) (Valentine, Queering methods methods Queering Life episodes,illustrated feedback about these projects. stored at National Museums Scotland. about us rather than by than ourselves. and rather us for about and present the life stories of life and the the present experiences and images, since representations of our community have To achieve this, they use multimedia storytelling, with they use this, storytelling, multimedia To achieve LGBT community in Scotland in their in Scotland own words LGBT community and memorabilia for the public to documented public for and the handle, memorabilia tended to be stereotyped and discriminatory, to be stereotypedconstructed discriminatory, and tended some at partner institutions, like the life the collection, like episode life some partner institutions, at events projects, a(like comics, events collected art Ceilidh), queer caricatures, masks, a exhibitions caricatures, box art reminiscence with workshops, filmed performances, video diaries, community OurStory Scotland displays Scotland someOurStory online ofarchive their and handwritten life episodes, recorded oral histories, interactive From the outset [OurStory Scotland’s] aims were to collect, archive archive to aims were collect, Scotland’s] [OurStory outset From the The following pages The showcase a sample of or typed life handwritten episodes collected by OurStory Scotland. I illustrated them with collages.

233

30 W.MS.2007.562.1

2424 W.MS.2007.563. W.MS.2007.542.1 299

28 25 W.MS.2007.443.1 W.MS.2007.481.1 27 2626 W.MS.2007.493.1 W.MS.2007.452.1